Cold Cache
by Tale Spinner
Summary: While Raynor prepares to meet Kerrigan, Queen of Blades. Commander goes on a secret mission to resupply the Raynor's Raiders resources. But even this simple process doesn't go as smoothly as planned.
1. Prologue

This story takes place before an earlier Starcraft story I wrote, called Reflections. Characters and concept owned by Blizzard, original characters are mine. This story takes place during the beginning and middle stages of Broodwar.

James Raynor's ship Hyperion, in orbit over Aiur.

Raynor's quarters.

"Are you sure about this, Jim?" Commander asked.

"No, I'm not. Kerrigan's invitation smells of trap like a Defiler's Mound. Still, I must accept it in order to see what she's planning." Raynor replied.

"Are you going alone?"

"No, Fenix comes with me. She didn't specifically ask you but she might assume that you're coming with me automatically"

"Shall I come?"

"At first I thought yes, but now I feel that better not. If she attempts something and succeeds, it's better that she doesn't get us all at once. She may be hoping for such a thing to happen."

"But Jim, together we could stop anything she might throw against us."

"We might, but I'm afraid she's taken that into account. She knows how we handle ourselves in the battle."

Commander was silent for a moment, then spoke. "Yes, you're right Jim. Considering how many times I guided her during the missions in the past, not to mention her telepathy, she could read me like a book without needing to open it."

"That's right. She could anticipate our move before we could initiate it and then dispose us in one clean swoop." Jim said.

"So, what do I do then?"

"Stay here to prepare for the worst. Should I be captured, do everything you can to rescue me. But if I'm dead, try continue the battle on your own."

"Well, no matter which of those ends will occur, there's not much I could do about it at this point." Commander replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Our resources are almost completely depleted. There's not much left from the battle against the Overmind. The amount of minerals and Vespene gas we have in stock isn't sufficient for a rescue operation or guerrila war."

"Damn it, I had forgotten that entirely."

Raynor began to think. Meanwhile, Commander stretched himself. After couple of minutes, Raynor spoke.

"It seems there's something for you to do after all while I'm gone. I'll leave with a small group and take some of the resources and equipment with me. I'll leave the rest here. You stay here with the Cruiser which Fenix donated to me to fill our stock. The 'Cargocruiser' isn't as good or big as the Battlecruiser but is capacious enough to get the job done, not to mention faster."

"From where? All the planets nearby that I know of are currently under Zerg infestation or occupied by Dominion outposts or drained completely of natural resources. Even if I could find some remaining sources, it's likely there's not much left."

Raynor scratched his chin for a second.

"There's one place which could be proper enough."

"What place is that?"

"Near the edge of the Koprulu sector there is a planet called Braxis. It has been partially excavated and likely holds a Dominion base. But it's twin planet is practically untouched."

"A twin planet of Braxis?"

"In a sense, they're twins. Both have a wintry climate but the twin's weather conditions are several times more perilous. While Braxis is generally quite calm, its twin has blizzards and snowstorms raging on the surface almost constantly. Even the temperature is much colder. Although it's closer to sun than Braxis doesn't make any difference. Only a few times on random occasions the weather clears enough for the surface to be accessible, but only for a short time. That's why even the Confederation never mined there, tried once but it ended in disaster."

"But how could I succeed where the Confed didn't?"

"They were careless. They ignored the safety procedures in a perilous climate like that. They assumed they could mine it as easily as Braxis. But when the first serious blizzard struck, everything became a mess. Top of that, it had been the beginning of a long storm cycle which lasted for weeks before settling down. Nothing was found of the mining team after the storm finally ceased. Confederation was hardly troubled by the loss of the mining team but agreed that no more effort would be wasted for mining on the twin planet."

"What can I do to avoid their fate?"

"First of all, you should bring the Cruiser hovering right above your camp and leave the engines on, that'll keep the air in motion enough to prevent the snow storms covering you. Second, operate only with minimal crew and withdraw everyone inside when the storm approaches. Resume immediately after it has passed. Since you only need to build few structures, your storages should remain steady and fill up quickly."

Commander pondered this for a moment, then spoke.

"I think I'll still build some light ground forces for guard duty, SCV's can't be used for defense if something occurs. I know it's nearly impossible to use air units in those weather conditions but the Cruiser will suffice as a stationary air defense, it won't be shaken as easily by the snow storms as fighter or shuttle would be."

"That's exactly what I had in mind, Commander. Depending on the size of the mineral concentration, use as many SCV's as possible in order to get the job done quickly so you don't need to stay there any longer than necessary."

"No question about it, Jim. By the way, how soon you'll leave?"

"In an hour, once the final repairs are complete."

"All right. I'll take rest of our forces and equipment with me. Too bad that I'll have to build the base from scratch but considering the size of the Cargocruiser it's unavoidable."

"I'm sure there will be enough minerals to cover the building of the base and enough for our future needs."

"You're probably right, since no one ever hasn't managed to gather anything from the planet."

For a moment neither spoke until Raynor made a comment.

"You know, Commander? This is actually the first time we're parting company for a longer time since Mar Sara. I'm excluding my short imprisonment by Confed."

"Yeah, I noticed. For some reason it feels like I'm about to amputate my arm."

"I got the same feeling, man. We've been working so long and well together that it almost makes me doubt we can pull this off."

"I have my doubts too. But we must trust our judgement and skills. They've carried us to this point."

Raynor could only nod. They'd faced worse situations in the past.

"All right, then. You better go ahead, Commander. The sooner you'll get started the better. I'll wait a word from Fenix and then we're on our way."

"Okay, Jim. Good luck to you."

"Same to you, Commander."

Then Commander stood up, saluted in a friendly manner and left Raynor's quarters. On the way to the hangar he activated his Com-Link, relaying the orders to load the equipment onboard the Cruiser. There was lot of work ahead and it required careful planning, there was no room for mistakes.


	2. Arrival

Same conditions and terms referred to at the start of the prologue will apply in this and all subsequent chapters.

Commander's Log:

2400 hours since departure with Raynor.

This part of the journey is tedious and nerve wracking. I'll have to be constantly alert for Dominion patrols. Despite the fact that this ship I'm in now doesn't have the signatures and shape of a regular Terran ship, it's still better to be cautious since the only space faring beings with ships in this sector are Terran and Protoss. So it's irrelevant to Dominion patrols what colors we wear.

None of the crew was anxious to separate from Raynor but they understood the need for backup, and without resources we couldn't do anything. Our aim is now to gather those resources as fast as possible and then get out. We'll make our move if nothing is heard from Raynor after the allotted time. But enough of that, I'll worry about it when that point is reached. Right now I'll have make sure we get to the twin planet in one piece.

Roughly ten minutes later, Advisor flashed a warning.

"Commander, a large fleet is approaching from the direction of the Dylarian Shipyards. The fleet consists of regular Terran Battlecruisers but with unknown markings."

"Have they detected us yet?"

"Nothing exceptional has not occurred in their behavior so far."

"Then we'll have to keep it that way. Turn off all power except minimal life support."

"At once, Commander."

All power was turned off not a moment too soon because in about few minutes we were in the range of their scanners. The trick seemed to work since the ships didn't turn around to fire at us. Advisor had been correct, the markings on the ships were unknown. But then I recognised some of the ships even from a distance. They were the ships Dominion used, but had been re-marked by their new owners. Whoever they were, they seemed to be powerful since they had managed to acquire those Battlecruisers from the Shipyards. Despite this, I couldn't detract from my current mission to investigate. Besides, I felt they would make their intent known soon enough somewhere. At least they weren't heading towards Braxis so I was free to carry out my task without disturbance from them. I ordered power to be restored once they were well out of scanner range.

Rest of the trip passed without incident. A quick long range surface scan revealed some minor activity on the surface of Braxis. We reached the orbit of the twin planet without being detected.

About half an hour later, a proper spot was found. It was because of the constant snowstorms on the surface of the planet that it had taken so long to find the place, since the storms hampered the scanners. Now we had to hurry because in about hour a new storm would be brewing in the chosen landing site, we had to claim that spot first.

Once we were above the site, the thrust and heat from the engines was used to clear the area from loose snow. The mineral cache was discovered in the process. It was huge. Part of it was under the ice but it wouldn't hamper the SCV's too much. No sign of the Vespene Gas geyser, unfortunately. I quickly ordered all of our six SCV's down there to start the construction of the Command Center. I only had to hope the approaching storm wouldn't be too severe. Even the ship's engines couldn't hope to clear a big storm.

"Advisor, how long before the next storm?"

"About forty minutes, Commander."

"Any indication how big it will be and how long will it last?"

"Difficult to say at this stage. The density and duration of the storms changes constantly which makes it very difficult to give exact figures until at the last minute."

Damn! Even at this point I could understand why no one hadn't bothered to excavate here (excluding Confed). It was too risky and based on luck and the whim of the weather. But at this point we didn't have any other choice. I had to take this one step at a time. First, the Center had to be build and after the storm had passed, the next stage had to be planned in relation with the next storm.

While the Center was being build, I surveyed the surrounding area in detail. I discovered that the base was being builded into a semi-large valley, with ice and snow covered mountains surrounding it. There seemed to be only one accessible looking pathway into the valley in the east. From defensive point, it was a perfect setting, but I figured in this environment the tactical advantage it offered would go to waste. Other than the powers of nature, this place didn't offer anything I could fight against, of which in truth, I was grateful. To need to worry about attacks from living enemies would place serious strain on this already perilous excavation.

Time passed and the new storm was upon us. Fortunately, it was only heavy snowing. It lasted about five hours but after it had passed, the Command Center was almost complete. I ordered one of the SCV's to start building some support structures. The night would soon be upon us, it heralded the beginning of a colder weather. The SCV pilots didn't have anything to worry since the heaters kept them warm no matter what the temperature was. My only worry was that how the cold would affect our equipment in the long run.

Once the Center was complete, the SCV's began gathering the minerals. I dispatched the basic staff to the Center to manage it. Lack of Vespene Gas bothered me so I ordered the Com-Sat attachment to be build. Sooner we found a Gas source, the better. Meanwhile, the mineral stock would fill steadily, our aim was about 10.000 units worth of minerals. Ditto for Vespene Gas.

Once the Com-Sat was ready, I made the first sweep of the area, which resulted in nothing. Since the scanner had just been build, I'd drained all its power. I decided to wait patiently until it was fully charged. Before that, there wasn't anything else to do but watch the mineral quota fill up and wait for the next snowstorm. During that time the sun set and darkness settled in.

The next storm came about two and a half hours later, it was more intense this time. I had to order the SCV's inside the Command Center for the duration of the storm. Small delays such as this was of little consequence compared to the well-being of my crew. The storm cleared roughly thirty-six minutes later. Fortunately the heat wave from the ship's engines helped to clear the fresh snow so the SCV's could continue their work. Besides, I noticed that the mountains around the valley served as a protection from most of the storms. I could almost imagine how much worse it would be if the base had been build on wide open.

When the scanner was finally fully charged, I began a systematical sweeping of the area. There were more mountains further west, canyons in the south and some open area in the north. But no sign of Vespene. I began to worry, if we couldn't fill our Vespene stock this trip could hardly be called success. There has to be at least one Vespene geyser around here. It didn't matter even if I had to build another Command Center just for gathering Vespene to the other side of the planet. It would cause a serious delay but I'd rather return with full stock.

Half an hour later, Advisor made a discovery.

"Commander, I have detected a weak trace of Vespene Gas nearby."

"Where exactly?" This was good news.

"Very near the base. Somewhere roughly south from it."

"Why can't I see it and why the scanner sweeps didn't detect it?"

"Because the geyser is under the snow and ice. That is why regular means of detection did not see it. It must be near the surface, however, otherwise I could not have detected it."

"How can we pinpoint the exact location?"

"By sending a SCV to search the area south of the base. This provides a physical remote sensor to help detection."

After detaching one SCV from mineral harvesting, it began scanning the south end of the valley. Near the south-east corner where the path to the east began, a faint trace was found.

"This is the location, Commander. One blast from the cannon should be enough to clear the ice," Advisor said.

"Get clear, Noyce. I'll blast it open," I said to the SCV pilot.

After he'd backed up, I aimed the laser to the spot where the Vespene trace was found. One solid blast did the trick, resulting in a rain of snow and ice. After the snow had settled, a fresh Vespene geyser was in sight. Scanning it closer, I was very pleased to discover it was a major source. It probably had enough for two bases.

"Noyce, begin building a Processing Plant, I'll commission another SCV to help you. After you've finished, start gathering the Vespene."

"Yes, Commander."

I ordered two new SCV's to be builded because I had to put one back to mineral gathering and the other to help Noyce. Things were starting to look good. A good site rich with minerals and Vespene. Protection from worst of the powers of nature. And best of all, no physical enemies to give additional trouble. But as soon as I'd thought about it, I realised things were looking too good, despite the weather. Would things go as planned without unexpected difficulties?

To dispel this fear I suddenly experienced, I dispatched two more SCV's to build a Missile Turret and a Bunker next to it. Afterwards they build the Barracks. Next I announced that four of our Marines had to go down to the barracks and suit up, then report for duty in the bunker. The marines wouldn't need to fear cold either, they had heaters in their combat suits. The bunker provided protection from the storm. They were well equipped since all their modifications were fully upgraded.

After everything had been done, there was nothing else to do but hope the night would go well and the weather wouldn't change dramatically.

Two hours after midnight the storm became stronger than it had ever been during our stay here. Even our ship had difficulties to keep steady in the raging blizzard. The wind was fierce and snowing was so thick I couldn't see anything past the window. I had no choice but to lower the ship hovering just above the surface of the snow. For a while it helped but soon I noticed the winds were actually much stronger in the valley. The wind blew with full force from the path in the east. The layout of the valley created a sort of funnel where wind picked up everything that was loose. It also prevented the snow from piling up. If we wanted to have a ship to take us out of here, I would have to transport myself and rest of the necessary crew into the Command Center and order the ship to the orbit. It could be called down to pick us up when the gathering was done.

I waited until the storm passed about hour later. Then I boarded one of our two active shuttles with the rest of the crew. Only the pilot with few technicians remained on-board the ship. After we'd landed inside the Command Center, others joined up with the rest of the crew already inside while I quickly headed to the command room. There I sat down in front of the monitors, adjusting myself to the layout of things and hooked Advisor on-line. After everything was clear, I told the ship to go to the orbit. It could stay unnoticed for much longer if all unnecessary functions were shut off. I told pilot to shut down everything else except life support.

Few hours later, it was dawn. Everything was in place in my meager base. Despite some building, the stockpile had been rising steadily on both fronts. The coldness hadn't so far hampered the functioning of our equipment, I hoped it would remain that way. Since everything was in order, I decided to have some rest, the base could run by itself for few hours. Advisor would alert me immediately if something was wrong. Before going to sleep, I ordered a replacement shift for the SCV drivers. They deserved a break as well.

Meanwhile, in the bunker.

"This certainly is the most iciest and coldest planet I've ever seen," one of the marines with a gruff voice said.

"Like you've ever seen any other ice planet, Keller." replied another marine.

"Shut up, Ned. From what I've heard, you haven't seen any planet outside Mar Sara before joining up with Captain Raynor. I served in the Sons of Korhal before joining to Raynor's Raiders for what Mengsk did to Kerrigan. Of the many planets we visited, one was like this, but much less colder and snow hardly rained at all during the time we were there. So next time pick your words a little better when you're trying to be sarcastic."

"Maybe so. I never was very good at humor anyway."

"How long do you think we'll be on this ice cube?" asked a third marine, a firebat.

"As long as we have to, at least as much as I could deduce from Commander's briefing, Perry. The sooner the quota can be met, sooner we're out of here," replied the fourth marine.

"Do you know how much is the quota, Floyd?" Keller asked.

"What I heard from a buddy of mine who operates an SCV, I'd say about 10.000 units for both."

Keller whistled. "That's quite a heap they're gathering. I could almost believe they're preparing for a large scale assault."

"It may look like that, but actually they're just stockpiling," Ned said.

"How'd you know that?" Perry asked.

"I overheard Commander and Captain Raynor talking in the bay as I was going to the mess for lunch. Our stock of minerals and Vespene is almost empty. Raynor and his Protoss buddy are going to some secret meeting while Commander has to fill our stock. They're gathering that much just for keeps, there's no telling how soon it's possible to gather more. The reason why we're gathering here is because other nearby planets are little 'too hot' for us currently."

For a while no one spoke. Then, Keller resumed talking.

"Ned, how well do you know Captain Raynor and Commander?"

"Well, Raynor I know quite well. I got to know him when the Zerg invaded Mar Sara. I fought against them alongside Raynor before we were locked up by Confed. Commander on the other hand, I don't know too well. He was appointed as the new Magistrate of Mar Sara just before the Zerg invasion. As you well know, that post didn't last too long. He guided us in the outlands of Mar Sara and eventually arranged our liberation by accepting help from Arcturus Mengsk.

"Beyond that, there's not much to tell. I first saw him briefly after we'd settled to Antiga Prime. He's young, slightly under Raynors' age. At first I didn't believe such a young guy could be so capable tactician, but I guess appearances can be deceiving. The only time I've managed to talk with him was just after we'd parted company with Mengsk. He felt a decent sort of guy, not much of a conversationalist but I got few words out of him. He willingly listened my experiences in the field and he promised to take them into consideration, at least he listen us regular soldiers and considers our view. We mainly talked about the current situation back then, but not once he told anything about himself. Only person I've seen him to talk most is Captain Raynor. I bet Raynor is the only person who knows him better than any of us. If that's true, Raynor isn't telling."

"Do you even know Commander's real name?" Floyd asked.

"No, I don't. He's never introduced himself in any other way. It seems he prefers to use the labels which others had given to him. First it was the title of Magistrate given by Confed and then the current one, Commander, given by Mengsk himself when he, Raynor, and rest of us joined to the Sons of Korhal. It might be possible that even Raynor doesn't know his real name. Only one who might know is Kerrigan, considering she's a telepath. But knowing that doesn't help us anymore. Kerrigan and Commander talked a few times face to face but I never heard that he'd said his name to her. Not that Kerrigan needed to hear it, she could've just picked it from his mind. If she ever did that, I don't know. At least I never heard her mentioning that to anyone.

She called him Commander like everyone else."

Ned picked a water can which he'd taken from the barracks and drank it, then dumped it to the floor.

"But as far as I'm concerned, I don't care what the Commander likes himself called. As long as he keeps us in one piece as much as it's possible under the circumstances and treats us fairly, I'm not complaining." Floyd said.

"I agree," Ned replied.

Everyone nodded in agreement, which was followed by few minutes of silence. Marines admired the glow of the rising sun over the mountains in the horizon. The visual range from the base to the area through the pass and beyond was excellent during clear weather, on stormy times the sight was barely less than four metres.

Two hours passed and when the sun was barely above the mountaintops, the sky clouded, wind began blowing and light snowing began. Despite being warmed by their combat armors, moods of the marines dropped slightly because they realized soon it would snow so much they couldn't pass the time by enjoying the view. They almost secretly hoped that something should happen soon to cut down the boredom although deep inside they knew that the action they'd accustomed to would be a death wish in this environment.

Besides, they would be facing enough challenge in enduring the weather because it would gradually generate into a storm by the day's end.

Around midday, two of the marines took a nap while the other two kept watch until their turn to rest came. Commander happened to wake up around noon.

"Advisor, what's the status of our quota," I said as rubbed my eyes and took something to drink in order to get myself going.

"Around two thousand units of Vespene Gas has been gathered, mineral stock is around fifteen hundred units."

"How long will take to fill the quota? Give an estimation."

"Assuming that nothing else will be build anymore and the random breaks between the storms, the estimated time is about four to five days."

"That sounds reasonable. Maintain surveillance and alert me if something out of ordinary happens."

"Yes, Commander."

Perhaps my fears were unwarranted. I'd half expected my sleep to be interrupted by a sudden enemy attack. If this pace continues, things will go much smoother than originally thought. Even the storms didn't worry me that much anymore. I could afford to be patient in this endeavor. I would only have to worry if Raynor didn't show up on the appointed time or send a message. Meantime, this operation must be handled nice and easy.

Three days later.

Everything has gone smoothly. There were only few major delays when the mining operations had to be aborted for several hours due the blizzards. Personnel and equipment have remained intact and functional. Excluding these few unavoidable delays, I'll expect us to be ready in two days, maybe less.

Back in the bunker.

"It sure's getting stormy. Can barely see past the window slits anymore."

"Yea, I'm sure glad we have this bunker to cover us. We would be covered by the snow in a blink of an eye."

"Good thing that Commander furnished this bunker with windows on the slits. Hate to have the snow inside."

"Agree. We only need to open them for firing, but I doubt it's necessary during our stay here."

"I hope so. Would be madness to have a firefight in this weather."

"Still, I can provide more warmth, if needed." Perry said, patting his flamethrower.

Everyone just winced at Perrys' dry humor. Keller even threw him with the empty water can which Perry calmly blocked.

Marines spend time in idle chat, Keller kept guard on the surrounding area as much as was possible. He constantly shifted his gaze back to his comrades so the snowy scenery wouldn't lull him too much.

Sometime later he thought the snowstorm was playing tricks on him but still kept seeing some vague shapes in the blizzard randomly. He focused more to see if he was seeing correctly before alerting the others.

Before he could even blink an eye, a spray of green liquid hit the window. Keller nearly fell back from shock but quickly recovered.

"Positions, guys! We're under attack!"

Others scrambled up and lifted their rifles. As they lined against the window, they all paused in wonder and shock. A bunch of Hydralisks had appeared in front of the bunker. They just stood there, not bothering to attack them like they normally did. But why had the Zerg bothered to give them advance warning by spitting on the bunker window first?

Whatever the reason, marines didn't waste time. Ned pressed a button which lowered the window panels in front of them. All lowered their visors. Lifting their rifles and flamethrower, all fired in unison. The battle was joined.


	3. Encounter

Alert flashed on the Commander's monitor. They were under attack. Commander quickly rose from the leaning position he was in and concentrated on the monitor. He saw several red dots on the southeast corner of the base, right next to the bunker serving as a front guard for the pass.

"What's the status, Advisor?"

"A small group of Hydralisks have attacked our bunker guarding the passage to the base. No other hostile forces detected."

Commander zoomed in on the battle at the bunker. As far as he could tell, Hydralisks weren't causing any serious damage but the bunker would need repairing anyway after the fight. The marines in bunker were fully upgraded which would help them to end the attack quickly. Despite it, that the attack had occurred in the first place was most worrying.

_How did the Zerg knew we're here? Could they have followed us or have they been here before us, just having a low profile activity? Whatever the reason, they made the first move._

In the bunker

"They sure know how to give a warm reception." Floyd remarked.

"Yea, but their heat is not what I crave, despite the climate." Keller said.

"I agree, but it's nice we're able to respond in kind." Perry said, lifting his flamethrower.

Others couldn't hope to avoid smiling in unison. Lifting the flamethrower in position, Perry took aim and unleashed the fiery death. Hydralisks couldn't hope to avoid the flame, since being stacked too close to each other.

Flames caught all of the Hydralisks, none couldn't avoid the flaming death. Assault from the bullets kept them too occupied to allow them to react fast enough to avoid. Any regeneration they managed was nullified by the flames. Fire and bullets finished the Hydralisks in a matter of moments.

Commander saw the incident was over, so he deployed one SCV for repairs.

While the SCV began repairing the bunker, Commander proceeded to build additional defenses. It would slightly reduce the amount of collected minerals but it was necessary if they all wanted to leave here alive.

A factory was commissioned so a siege tank could be made. Normally, Commander would have units instantly available but original plan had been to travel lightly.

While building was underway, Commander used the time to sweep scan the surrounding area. Stormy weather hampered the scanning occasionally, so not much was discovered before the sweeper scanner ran out of power. While Commander waited for recharge, he decided that additional measures were in order.

Building of Starport and their additions came first, then one shuttle and two wraiths were placed in production. Once all that had been done, Commander used the time to scan the surrounding area few times only since the scanner hadn't charged fully yet. First scan didn't show anything but the second briefly displayed something further north, beyond the mountains. Quickly zooming closer, Commander saw it was a small Zergling squad, burrowed under the snow.

_So they've set an ambush point. Hopefully their hive is near, since normally Zerglins have been placed to guard the paths to their hive._

Since nothing wasn't approaching the base currently, Commander decided to let every commissioned project to finish first and allow the mineral storage to recover. Further actions would be decided later.

Everything was ready in the next morning, no further incidents occurred during the night. Commander prepared to give a set of orders to the Wraiths.

"Pilots, search the surrounding area. Split to cover more area. You have roughly two hours until storm rises up again. Your ships are too light to be able to remain in flight during it, return to base in good time."

"Acknowledged, Commander."

Then both pilots took off from the Starport and headed towards area of Zerglings. It took only few minutes to get there.

Once at the site, both initiated their scanners for any hidden Zerg. They soon found the Zerglings mentioned. Since they weren't any threat to them, pilots let them be. It was better to give them a feeling they had remained unnoticed. Pilots then set their course further into the area the Zerglins seemed to be guarding.

They didn't get far when their scanners warned of a small Zerg hive ahead. Switching to stealth mode, pilots approached carefully. Stopping outside the scan range of the Spore Colonies placed on top of the mountain range. Pilots stayed on the fringe of the hive since Colonies had been known to detect stealth units, then began studying the layout of the hive as much as it was possible from their location.

Zerg had apparently chosen their hive location rather well. It was in a small basin. A small, narrow passage led into it. Otherwise the basin was completely cut off from the rest of the area. The Spore Colonies were placed between proper intervals. Attacking the hive by air was sheer suicide. Not to mention a pair of Hydralisks were also stationed next to each Spore Colony.

"Well. I'll be damned. This isn't your usual Zerg hive. Someone or something more cunning than any ordinary Zerg has build this." said Parks, one of the pilots.

"I agree," said Jennings, the second pilot. "Even a full squadron would get obliterated before reaching the main hive."

"Yea. Better report back to Commander. He'll need to know this."

"Wait a moment, Parks. I'll edge a little closer. There is one narrow spot between the Spore Colonies where I can scan the hive in better detail."

"Better not do that. There may be some nasty surprise for unwary, considering how well laid the air defense is."

"I think so too, but we must find some hole in their defenses. Otherwise we'll be here far too long for my liking."

Jennings slowly began approach the fringe of the Zerg hive. Stopping just short of the scan range of the Spore Colony, he started scanning and observing.

What Jennings discovered, made him almost lose his nerve. The entrance leading to the narrow passage from the hive was totally surrounded by Sunken Colonies, six in total. Two on either sides and final two in middle. Not to mention a pair of Ultralisks standing just behind the colonies. Although the surface between the entrance and colonies looked smooth, there was no telling that there could be a swarm of Zerlings burrowed there.

Past the defenses, several structures which apparently powered various Zerg functions. Spawning Pool was clearly in sight, the structures which powered Hydralisks and Ultralisks. Also the Zerg version of Refinery was near, indicating Zerg had found a deposit too. Not far from that was the primary hive structure. Several drones moved between it and a large concentration of minerals. Zerg had apparently found an even bigger pile, which meant they could withstand a long siege.

Jennings suddenly noticed something was missing. After re-checking, he discovered the lack of air units. Not a single Mutalisk or any other flying unit was in sight. Apparently Zerg too had trouble using air units here so had apparently discarded the idea as well. That explained the heavy ground based air defense. For some reason, whatever was in charge here, had prepared for air assault despite the weather.

As Jennings was doing the final sweep of the hive, he didn't notice an Overlord slowly rising from beyond the ridge in front of him. Parks saw it but to his horror Jennings didn't even react. Quickly, Parks activated the Com-Link.

"Jennings, get away from there, an Overlord is rising from beyond the ridge ahead."

From the angle he was in, Jennings still didn't saw the Overlord but didn't question his friend's warning. As quickly as possible, he turned the ship around and prepared to hit the thrusters. But he was few seconds too late. The moment Overlord emerged from beyond the ridge its sensors detected the presence of the intruder, Spore Colonies and Hydralisks fired immediately on the target. The combined barrage was so fast and powerful that Jennings barely realised when world exploded around him.

Parks could only stare in mute horror at the sight. The Overlord hovered momentarily in the area, checking for more intruders. After detecting nothing, it slowly started to float back into the basin.

Parks did his best to calm down. He had been right, there had been something unexpected. Despite getting very crucial data about the layout of the hive, Parks wasn't pleased that it had cost a life. After one more steadying breath, Parks turned his Wraith around and began the journey back to the base. His cloaking power ran out shortly after leaving the Zerg hive but he didn't care to pay attention.

It had started to snow lightly by the time Parks made it back to base. He had just gotten inside the Command Center when the storm hit. Wondering his perfect timing, Parks headed to the Commander first before refreshing himself and recovering from his partner's death.

Parks pressed the button outside Commander's operating chamber. Seconds later, his call was answered by the opening of the chamber's door.

Stepping inside, he saw Commander motioning him to step closer. Parks walked next to the Commander's seat.

"Report, Parks." Commander said as he turned his seat to face Parks.

"Other than the burrowed Zergling group, we found no other Zerg in the area. Much further to the northeast we found a Zerg hive. It's defenses are top notch. Aerial assault is impossible without heavy casualties. Same with ground assault, the only entrance to the basin where the hive is located is heavily guarded at the entrance. Any attempt to breach it would be a slaughter, no matter what units and how much would be used. Finally, the hive is in a place where they have bigger mineral stock available than we have. I don't know about the quality of their Vespene gas source but they have one anyway. Basically, they can withstand a siege for quite a while." Parks finished.

After thinking for few seconds, Commander dismissed Parks.

"Thank you, Parks. You have done well. Jennings did too, my condolenses. Dismissed."

"Thanks, Commander." Parks saluted and then left the chamber.

Commander's Journal

So we have a fully operational Zerg hive in the area. Would have been a miracle if this operation had gone without interruptions like that. Oh well, can't be helped. Only concern now is how to deal with it? According to the surveillance report, the hive is impregnable without heavy casualties. Not to mention their bigger resource stockpile which could help them survive a heavy siege. We don't have the time and resources on our side. Also, the layout of the base and it's defenses indicate something more than a regular Cerebrate is behind it, but aren't they all dead?

Anyway, whatever is controlling the hive is all intent on stopping us. We can't leave while we lack ten percent of the stock quota. And even once the quota is full, I'm certain the Zerg won't allow us to go quietly, or leave us alone in first place. I'm certain they're planning a new attack, a stronger one this time. That small attack was just a recon job.

Which means I must divert more resources to additional defenses. It really irritates me to do it but survival comes before all. First, two Siege Tanks will go in production, accompanied by two Walkers. The single Wraith left will provide minor air support. It is good we too have surroundings which can be well defended with minimal forces.

Mainly, there's one thing I can rely on. The Zerg won't attack us during storms any more than I would. That gives me time to come up with a plan to destroy them, or at least stall them long enough for us to get out of here.

Another night fell and with it came a disturbingly calm weather. Normally, Commander would've rejoiced but now it made him very nervous. Because time was most suitable for Zerg to strike. Commander was most certain they would attack during the night, so he prepared the defenses. Fortunately, most of the defenses were already build. Only one Siege Tank wasn't totally complete. Finished units were based around the bunker guarding the passage to the valley. Since only one entrance was available, firing could be concentrated to a single spot.

Waiting was more unnerving than anything else. Marines in bunkers itched for the moment to start shooting. Same with the pilots of the mechanical units. Vechiles and the bunker personnel had their night vision on to see beyond their immediate surroundings. Without that precaution, Zerg could get too close to comfort.

Commander was alert as well. He constantly scanned the area outside the valley and around the Zerg hive to see if their attack was commencing. Nothing had appeared in sight. He wondered had he calculated wrong and Zerg weren't going to do anything radical tonight. As he was doing a last scan with remaining charges near the outermost area of the valley, a small dot appeared on the screen. Quickly zooming to the area, Commander saw a single Ultralisk there, followed by a swarm of Zerglings and Hydralisks.

Commander quickly realised he had neglected a small area from the scannings. The area southeast from the valley was mostly of snow and ice, therefore he had ignored it. But now it seemed he shouldn't have. Zerg had apparently used the time to burrow through it, despite taking longer, it had allowed them to get close to the base area without being seen. Even while prepared, they might've reached the base until too late to retaliate, unless he had accidentally scanned the ice mountains.

Quickly, Commander opened the Com-Link. "Attention, everyone! Zerg are approaching the base. They've just reached the entrance to the passage. They will be at the base perimeter estimated in five minutes. The moment they appear at the entrance to the valley, fire at will. We can't allow them to spread, otherwise they will overwhelm us!"

With controlled haste, all vechiles moved into position at the entrance. The only available Siege Tank anchored itself for firing.

Before anyone even realised, five minutes were over. The first Zerglings emerged from the passage so fast that the siege tank shooter barely managed to react, but managed to send a charge right in middle of them. Zerglings were blown to pieces before getting away. Marines opened fire immediately after, forcing the Hydralisks to remain at the entrance and shoot from distance. Remaining Zerlings at the forefront charged towards the bunker which was firing at them. Almost all of them were shot down before they got in close range, but few made it through.

"They sure are resilient. One must practically shoot their limbs off just to slow them down, damn their regeneration ability." Ned exclaimed.

Just as the remaining Zerglings were preparing to start tearing the armor open, flaming death greeted them, which fried them on the spot, assisted by a steady stream of bullets.

Battle at the entrance became a stand off since no more Zerglings were in sight. Hydralisks continued shooting from distance, although their numbers were dropping continually under the heavy barrage. For the moment it seemed they had nothing to worry about, if this was all that the Zerg would throw against them, but the slight twinge in the back of their minds told that it wouldn't be so easy as it seemed.

Hardly a minute passed when their worst fear was confirmed. At the far end of the passage, another swarm of Zerg arrived. There was more Zerglings than the first wave had contained, same with Hydralisks. But what was even worse that they were accompanied by a Ultralisk. Everyone realised in a flash that they couldn't hold such a group, especially the Ultralisk, since it would just calmly step over the other Zerg and head straight for the bunker.

The moment Commander noticed the new group, he despaired momentarily. They currently didn't have enough firepower in use to repel the new group. Only chance would be to prevent them from entering altogether, but how? Fortunately, the answer was quick in coming.

"Messick and Parks, quickly concentrate all fire on the cliff edges of the passage. Bring the whole thing down." Commander announced to the pilots.

Quickly taking aim and commencing fire, both tank and wraith began to grind the icy edges as the new Zerg wave kept coming closer. Siege Tank rotated the firing between both sides of the edges in rapid session, effectively causing the edges to collapse in record time. Wraith edged closer to the entrance, trying to shoot down the edges which were further away.

Luck was with them for the avalanche dropped and piled on the Zerg in first row and the ones behind them too. Although the pilots couldn't shoot down the cliff edges all the way, still more of it collapsed than expected due the bombardment having caused a chain reaction. All the Zerglings and Hydralisks were covered by the ice but the Ultralisk wasn't. It had ran behind the others, therefore managing to stop just before being covered by the avalanche.

First it started to climb the obstacle but soon discovered it couldn't stay in balance on it. After backing down, it slowly started to approach the barricade again and slowly to dig through it. Ultralisk didn't dig with the usual speed it chewed through armor, like it was reluctant to do it. Commander made his decision before Hydralisk could make up its own.

"Parks, kill it before it ruins our barricade!"

Wasting no time, Parks flew to Hydralisk and commenced firing. It screamed in pain but didn't run away, like they used to do on occasion when fired on from direction they were unable to attack. Something was clearly compelling it to commence digging, despite the odds. It didn't take long for Parks to finally kill it.

After the last one was killed, a cheer went throughout the base. But Commander didn't cheer. He knew this was just a temporary victory. Despite the passage blocked to the base, the zerg hive was still active and had greater amount of resources available. They could eventually create an overwhelming force which could dig through the blockade very quickly and kill them all without catching their breath.


	4. Retaliation

_Situation felt tense. The first major attack of the zerg had been stopped but only barely. Collapsing the passage only gave us little more time. But eventually the zerg will put all their resources into use and dig themselves through it. They have time and no limits to use resources as they like. We must, unfortunately, conserve if we want to leave as soon as possible. But while the zerg hive is active, we cant mine the remaining amount quickly enough._

_So first we must destroy the zerg hive or at least delay them enough, somehow, without needing a too large effort from us. But question is, how? Only choice is to call a staff meeting. Many heads together would find a solution. Feels strange that for the first time Im out of touch on how to proceed._

Commander pondered his speech while the staff leaders assembled into the command room. Puzzlement was clear on their faces since Commander never had called them together.

"I thank you all coming on such a short notice. Needless to say were facing a dire situation. The passage to the valley is blocked currently, but there is no telling how long it lasts. To finish mining as quickly as possible without needing to worry about the zerg, Ive called you here to come up with a solution. I myself am at loss on how to do it without causing serious casualties to us since the zerg hive is practically impregnable to both land and air attacks."

Everyone in the room was dumbstruck for a moment, then began studying the layout of the hive. Finally, chief of miners spoke out.

"There is one another method of attack available. The element of nature itself."

"Please, come and enlighten us," Commander said, motioning the miner to step forth.

Chief of miners walked to the front of the staff and began telling his theory.

"Since direct assault is not a possibility without severe losses, we can acquire another form of weaponry, nature, or more precisely, ice and snow. As you see the layout of the Hive, it is surrounded by snow covered mountains. They consist more of snow and ice, rather than rock. Especially that huge concentration at the top of northern ridge. Should we be able to topple all that on the hive, it would overwhelm the zerg base entirely."

"I must confess being surprised of not realising that. Well, geological tactics never were my area of expertise before. Anyway, good work." Commander said.

Chief miner was pleased to hear praise from Commander. Then he went back to his seat.

"Since the solution is now discovered, I have come up with the means to do it. Siege tank will be our tool. It will be deployed at the outer edge of the zerg base, just out of their sensor range. There is a smooth ledge at the northwest corner of the basin from which the tank can drive near enough to the edge, just to the range from which it can fire on the ice concentration. Since the top edge of the basin is only covered with spore colonies, tank doesn't have to worry about being attacked, at least not immediately.

"Once there, it will begin barraging the concentration until it all comes down on the zerg. Then the tank will be retrieved and we will quickly finish our excavation, just in case the zerg wont die out completely and dig themselves up. Should it go fast enough, zerg shouldn't be able to issue any defenses capable of attacking the tank. Any questions?" Commander finished.

Commander waited briefly and no questions came.

"Very well, lets get going then, time is of the essence. Dismissed."

In few minutes, the only currently operational siege tank was loaded into the dropship. Wasting no time, it set out towards the outer edge of the zerg hive. As the dropship made its way, the wind suddenly picked up.

"Hang on, were in for some chop," The pilot announced to the tank crew while struggling with the controls.

"I'd like to see the day they make these dropships capable of weathering gusts of wind like this without throwing the contents into disarray, said Travis," the driver of the tank.

"Agree, though I doubt the day comes when they begin considering the comfort in marine transports. So far, we've been hardly expected to come back in one piece, if even that. But since the Commander came, many of us been coming back alive and well from skirmishes more often than thought possible." said Shenk, navigator/gunner of the tank. It was decided to have minimal crew in the tank, for such a short operation.

Travis could only nod.

Shenk pressed the comm switch.

"I'm listenin'." A suave female voice replied.

Cunningham, cant you keep this thing a bit more steady?! Were almost rolling inside our tank!

"Strap yourselves in boys and stop complaining. This is hard enough even without the wind." Then the comm console went dark. Gillian Cunningham didn't want to waste time for pointless debate.

"Smart ass." Travis said aloud.

Suddenly a heavy shake up occurred, tossing both the dropship and the tank crew violently. Either it was the perfect timing of wind or Gillian had heard the reply and retaliated. It was hard to prove so the tank crew remained silent for rest of the trip.

Sooner than anticipated, the outer edge of the zerg hive came in range, namely the mountain range surrounding it. Gillian announced they were approaching the drop zone. Both men buckled up and readied for landing. After a heavy shaking, dropship had landed. Aft door opened immediately and the ramp slid down. Siege tank turned the power on and exited the dropship promptly. Wasting no time, dropship took off and retreated to safe distance until the mission was complete.

"This is it. Heading to selected coordinates." Travis said.

As the edge was approaching, the presence of spore colonies was unnerving. Shenk and Travis waited them to at any moment to start firing them, despite knowing the spore colonies only fired on aerial units. After dodging few more of them, they finally reached the spot where the bombardment of glacier could commence.

"Commander, designated coordinates reached. Awaiting order." Shenk said.

"Commence the bombardment." Commander said.

Shenk pressed a button and the tank commenced the change into siege mode. The process planted it firmly in the ice, side pontoons locking it in place. The shock cannon rose and waited to begin pounding.

Shenk began calculating the accurate bombing spot based on coordinates measured earlier. Once the target had been confirmed, Shenk placed shock cannon on autofire until interrupted manually.

As the firing began, both men immediately began wondering how soon the hive would retaliate. To their amazement, no flying units were dispatched to their location. It seemed the zerg had truly forgone the aerial units due the unstable weather. Which suited the tank crew just fine.

The constant barrage on the glacier concentration did its work. It began to crumble almost immediately. By the time barraging was stopped, full scale avalanche had formed. As it slid down the mountain wall, a small quake emanated in the area where the tank was positioned. At first it only felt like it was the mild after effect of the avalanche but as it grew in strength, it started to become much more. But the attention from the quake was drawn towards the cascading avalanche which tumbled on the zerg hive, covering it entirely. None of the structures or any zerg remained visible. The avalanche had done its job wonderfully.

But the joy of success was cut short as the rumbling began and grew in strength.

"Uh oh." Travis said.

"You don't say." Shenk replied.

Right after that, fractures opened on the snow covered ice plateau. It would only be a matter of moments before the plateau would collapse.

"Cunningham, get the hell us out of here on the double!" Shenk said as he established the connection to the dropship.

Gillian hit the thrusters immediately and began approaching the tank, despite the spore colonies. But the spore colonies would be the least of worries if the quakes would lead to what she and the tank crews thoughts were reflecting on.

Just as the dropship almost got to the extraction range of the tank, ice splintered enormously. Fractures spread and widened throughout the plateau and eventually collapsed, dragging with it the spore colonies and the siege tank.

"Commander, I couldn't reach the tank. The plateau collapsed due the bombardment, taking the tank with it."

For a moment, no reply came. Then, "You did what you could, Gillian. Now, get out of there. There is nothing else to be done." Commander replied.

Taking a deep breath and gripping the controls tightly, Gillian turned around and headed back to the base.

_The mission was a success, although with a price. As much as it pains me to lose two more men, they did complete their assignment. Above all, we must not let their effort go to waste. We will finish the excavation and fill the needed amount of the quota remaining as soon as possible and then leave._


	5. Escape

"How much longer until quota is completed, Advisor?"

"Estimated remaining time is thirty-two minutes. Correction, it is now approximately one hour."

"Why? What happened?"

"The vespene geyser was just depleted. It still has enough remnants to fill our quota, the process just takes slightly longer now due lessened amount."

"Thank you. Transfer all the remaining SCVs to help with the vespene gathering to speed it up a little."

_Damn, this hits too close. Our departure will delay greatly if I have to build or fix anything even in the slightest amount. There is plenty of crystals but amount of gas available unexpectedly dropped too low. There are no room for any excess now. The moment quota is filled, we shall depart. I cant risk the zerg digging themselves out eventually. Hoping to be gone by then._

It frustrated Commander to know time was running out, with many things. If it had been a simple task of ordering an attack or such, it wouldve been simpler. But no such luck now.

Two groans emanated in the darkness. As the sounds died, another one replaced it.

"Shenk?"

"Yea?"

"Either you're alive or I'm talking to a ghost."

"he latter. Ive come back to haunt you." Shenk replied with a snicker.

"Bah, I should be that lucky a fall like this would kill you." Travis said.

"True. Speaking of which, where are we?"

"Beats me, cant see anything right now."

"Just a second, I'll get the lights on. First checking the damage."

Shenk grasped in the darkness and soon found the button activating the power.

"Considering the situation, only minor damage, the siege mode clamps are busted. Otherwise were fine."

"Great, could've been worse I suppose."

Shenk proceeded to activate the lighting.

"There. All I can do for now. Will need more time for proper lighting."

"Better than nothing. Now, see if you can pinpoint our location."

Shenk adjusted himself by the console and activated it. Fortunately, it was functional. View screen showed nothing but darkness. Shenk surmised either the night had become starless or they were under the ground, or ice more likely. Switching to night vision revealed a large cavern but not much else.

"We're in a large cavern. Apparently the ice above us collapsed due the bombardment and we fell down here. We're also partially buried by the snow and ice which came with us."

"Can we move?"

"I think so. Tank isn't totally buried and the snow hasn't frozen so should be easy. Start the engines and we shall see."

Travis also adjusted himself to his seat and took the controls. Power turned on without resistance. After waiting few moments for engine to get running, he pressed the accelerator. At first the tank protested slightly but came loose soon enough.

Travis hit the breaks immediately once the tank had come loose from the piled snow and ice. Then he held his breath for few seconds.

"Before heading further, scan the area thoroughly. I don't want to drive around blindly."

"I'll scan as much as possible. Hopefully more can be revealed now."

Activation of the long range scanner in connection with night vision, revealed a large ice covered cavern. Walls were beautiful but featureless. Tank was in the southwest corner of the cave.

"Immediate area is clear enough. Proceed northwards until we can see some new terrain."

"Affirmative."

Gently pressing the accelerator, tank began moving onwards. After moving for about thirty seconds, Travis suddenly hit the breaks.

"Whats wrong? Shenk asked."

"Take a look."

Travis looked at the screen and saw large shapes in the darkness. Turning to his own console, Shenk activated image enhancing mode. What it revealed stopped both of their breath for a second.

An almost exact replicate of their base stood before them but all frozen up. Command center, refinery, barracks and so on. The frozen spectacle before them could've been considered beautiful under normal circumstances but the grim content shattered that illusion.

"A terran base, covered under ice!" Travis said, anxiously.

"And just when I thought nothing could surprise me anymore." Shenk replied.

"Any idea how long this base has been here?"

"Hard to say, decade or so at least."

"Who they've been, I wonder?"

"I think I know. They're the Confederation excavation team send here in past which was mentioned in the briefing to mine this place. It seems this is what happened to them."

"Cute. Unless we wish to join them, wed better get out of here as soon as possible."

"Agree, give me a sec and I'll scan the area."

After performing the scan, Shenk remained quiet for disturbingly long.

"Well, did you find a way out?" Travis asked.

"Not from this position. Somehow the cave distorts the readout. Circle behind behind the base. Maybe there I can do a better scan."

"Very well."

Setting course towards the frozen base, Travis waited until last moment before beginning to circle it. Once behind it, Travis pulled to a stop so Shenk could get his bearings.

"There is a small opening at the north end of the cavern. Its barely large enough for the tank. You better drive carefully. One false move and we might get stuck badly. Not seriously I doubt but rather not risk it."

"All right. Here goes nothing."

Travis cautiously guided the tank into the tunnel. Going was slow due the very little space for driving. As they drove along the twisting tunnel, Shenk made an observation.

"There is something unusual about this tunnel."

"What do you mean?"

"The tunnel isn't naturally formed. It has signs of being melted."

"How could that have happened?"

"Beats me. Either some natural anomaly has formed it or someone or something has burrowed through here. No idea how long ago but still..."

Travis couldn't find any words for reply so he just concentrated on driving.

After several minutes of up and downs, twisting to left and right, they reached the end of the road.

"Whoa!" Travis said aloud as he pulled the brakes.

"What?"

"Take a look." Travis replied as he pointed towards the screen.

Not far from the tank, a frozen corpse of a firebat laid against the tunnel wall. It occurred to both of them immediately how the tunnel had been formed. Clearly the firebats' fuel had been exhausted, stopping his apparent flight for freedom from the ice.

"That sucks. Guy had gotten this far and used up all the fuel with no escape in sight."

"Indeed. Must've been a last survivor of the Confederation base. He must've taken a wild shot and headed to random direction. Seems his gamble didn't pay off."

Both were silent for few minutes. Their predicament sunk in as they realised they had reached the same pointless conclusion as the firebat had.

After brooding their situation for a while, Travis had an idea.

"Why don't we do as the firebat did? Take a lucky shot and see where it leads us. In our case, shoot our way through the ice with all we got. Continue the work he left unfinished. If it doesn't help us in getting out of here, we haven't lost anything."

"Under these circumstances, why not. Better than do nothing."

Without further delay, Shenk fired the twin PPG-7 plasma cannons with full charge. He kept the fire button pressed until the energies ran out and had to recharge. This was fine because the firing had melted the ice and created a steam blanket around them.

Once it dissipated, daylight shined into the tunnel. Without a thought, Travis drove towards the opening. Once there, they noticed the light shone from above. Tank stood in a small hole, barely fit enough for it. Walls were too high to even consider scaling it. Freedom was near, yet so far away.

"Now what?" Travis asked.

"In situation such as this, only option is to activate the distress beacon and hope for the best. Mainly meaning that Commander hasn't already packed up and left."

Travis could only nod as Shenk pressed the button. Now they could only wait.

"Commander. I am picking up a distress beacon from the siege tank assigned for the

bombardment." Advisor said.

"How? I thought it was destroyed when the plateau collapsed."

"Apparently not. It is relaying its position southeast from our base. It is stuck in a hole with no means to get out on its own."

"Not for long. Gillian!" Commander said as he pressed the comm link switch.

"Yes, Commander?"

"Go pick up our wayward tank. As fast as you can. The moment you're back at the base, I'm calling the ship down. We leave at once!"

"I'm on my way."

"Shenk, Travis. Are you all right?" Commander said.

"Loud and clear, Commander. Were fine. Just exhausted."

"Understood. Cunningham is already on her way to pick you up. You'll be here soon. After that, we shall depart immediately. We have filled our quota."

"Glad to hear it. We're ready. Shenk out."

Commander was relieved that the excavation operation hadn't cost any further lives than initially thought it had. He immediately pressed the public comm switch.

"Commander here. We shall now leave this place. Our quota is full. In addition, our brave bombardment team has survived and is being brought back as we speak. Start packing. The moment the tank is back in base, I shall call our ship down. We have no time to waste."

Gillian made to the location of the tank in matter of minutes. Once above the pit, she made announcement.

"Stay put now. Activating extraction field."

_Like we could move anywhere._ Travis thought.

Slowly but surely, tank rose from the pit, scratching the ice walls occasionally. Once the tank was safely inside the hold, Gillian hit the thrusters to maximum possible speed. This time Shenk and Travis didn't complain.

In the span of several minutes, all remaining operations were completed. Once the cruiser settled above the base, Commander ordered everyone inside. Excavated material was stored in record time.

"Everyone on board?" Commander asked.

"Affirmative, Commander." Advisor replied.

"Good. Initiate the self-destruct sequence of the base. No evidence must remain behind."

"Commencing countdown." Advisor said.

"Pilot, take us to orbit!" Commander said as he pressed the comm switch.

"Yes, sir."

Thrusters at maximum, cruiser headed towards the sky. Wind was picking up as the cruiser rose. Despite the odds, ship reached the orbit. Heavy storm front had just arrived above the area where the base had been.

"Commander. I am detecting minor zerg activity from the buried hive. Few zergling have managed to dug out from the snow."

_Despite that we managed to escape before they got out, I cant let them remain around._

"Prepare the sole nuke we have in the hold. We shall fry the zerg clean off from the surface." Commander announced.

Crew ambled into action with superb fervor. In matter of moments, the nuke was ready for deployment.

"Advisor. Aim the nuke to the zerg hive, straight in the middle."

"Affirmative, Commander."

Nuclear missile detached from the cruiser. It began heading down towards the planet, like a condor diving to a corpse. In the scant few seconds the surfaced zergling observed, they saw the missile approaching. They screeched towards it but to no avail. The impact created a fireball so huge that it engulfed the entire basin. Not to mention the frozen Confederation base beneath it. Otherwise the structure of the surrounding area prevented the explosion from spreading further.

"Despite being Confeds, I hope their souls can finally rest in peace now." Shenk said.

"Agree. No one deserves an end like that." Travis replied.

"We have accomplished what we came here for. Set the course for meeting point." Commander announced.

As he observed the destruction, Commander had other thoughts.

_We succeeded but it was too close. I'm still wondering how the zerg knew we were here. But it doesn't matter now. I'm glad that we survived. Only thing remaining now is to meet with Jim at the designated point. I can only hope he has survived whatever obstacles has been thrown against him._

A/N: For proper conclusion, see my earlier story, Reflections.


End file.
